Classical Sprouts

It looks like a small upright piano, but is shaped like an organ and sounds like a glockenspiel... It’s the Celesta! We’re learning about and listening to music that features the celesta, a bell-like keyboard instrument that is often associated with magical-sounding music this week on Classical Sprouts.

Scottish percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie has been a rockstar in the classical music world for decades. She’s performed at an Olympic opening ceremony, has traveled all over the world to perform a wide variety of percussion instruments and styles, she’s known as the first person to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist and she’s deaf. We’ll learn how this amazing musician uses her whole body to listen on today's episode of Classical Sprouts.

Was that a bird or a violin? Fluttering wings, scratching feet, pecking beaks: Italian composer Ottorino Respighi captured these sounds and more in his piece for small orchestra called "The Birds" (or, in Italian, "Gli Uccelli").

Her music was played at Queen Victoria’s funeral, she composed an opera, multiple works for orchestra, was an accomplished pianist herself, and wrote a very famous concertino for flute. We’re learning about French composer Cécile Chaminade and that famous flute concertino this week on Classical Sprouts!

Yo-Yo Ma has been playing the same Bach cello suite since he was only 4 years old, right as he started learning the cello. Now, he's using his fame (and performances of that same cello suite) to promote what he believes in.

Composer Amy Beach was a lot of "firsts" - the first woman to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra, one of the first composers to train exclusively in the United States and more.

It's chord progression appears in countless pop songs, it's played at tons of weddings and repeats the same 8 notes over and over again… what is it? It’s Pachelbel’s Canon! We’ll get into what makes this piece so popular, and how to spot it in the wild this week on Classical Sprouts.

It was the only movement of Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals" that he allowed to be performed while he was still alive. "The Swan" depicts a majestic bird gliding along the water and is now standard repertoire for cellists!

This sibling septet of violinists, cellists and pianists ranging in age from 14 to 27 is known around the world for their impressive musicianship.

Snow is melting, the air no longer feels sharp, and the sun has returned! How should we celebrate? With Antonio Vivialdi of course! We’re listening for the sounds of warmer weather in the "Spring" movement of Vivaldi’s "Four Seasons" today on "Classical Sprouts."

It’s in the name of countless pieces of music… but what makes a sonata, a sonata? We’re going to figure out the building blocks of a sonata using Mozart’s Sonata No. 16 in C Major this week on Classical Sprouts.

Spring is just around the corner, which means it's time for our newest season of Classical Sprouts - the Awesome Classical Music Podcast for Kids!

American rock and pop singer Linda Ronstadt sang the role of Mabel in the 1983 movie version of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, "The Pirates of Penzance." But she wasn't known as an opera singer. Hear how she used that to her advantage in this episode of Classical Sprouts!

How did composer Maurice Ravel write a piece of music that lasts for 15 whole minutes and only has one rhythm and melody? What did audiences think?? Find out this week on Classical Sprouts.

Love! Handsome soldiers! Quack doctors! Weddings! And love potions? Learn all about this romantic opera on Classical Sprouts!

We're hanging out with this acclaimed Ghanaian-American pianist as we learn about some of his favorite composers of African descent!

What makes tango tango? Find out this week with the acclaimed tango ensemble QuinTango!

Did you know the melody from Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" love duet "Once Upon a Dream" was actually written by Tchaikovsky? We're listening to the Garland Waltz this week on Classical Sprouts.

This week on Classical Sprouts, we're going to space with composer Gustav Holst, as we explore "Jupiter" from his suite, "The Planets."

It's played every year on New Year's Day, but what is Johann Strauss II's "By the Beautiful Blue Danube" about?

Get out your pointe shoes - we're exploring Léo Delibes' ballet, Coppélia!

Life-size dolls, mouse soldiers, dancing snowflakes, candies, flowers and a beautiful ballet princess . . .

Learn more about how this hit Broadway show changed the sound of musical theater.

Find out what it's like to sing in Spanish at the Metropolitan Opera with your opera idol with soprano and opera star, Gabriella Reyes.

Find out what it takes to put on a show at the Metropolitan Opera. Classical Sprouts producer Emily Duncan Wilson went to the final dress rehearsal of Daniel Catán's "Florencia en el Amazonas" and spoke with the director, puppet designer, one of the stars and some Sprouts in the audience!

Kate shares one of her favorite (but somehow also least favorite) Venezuelan folk song, 'El Sapo'!

We're getting festive this season and getting ready to dance! We'll learn a Venezuelan folk song, go the the opera, play video games, and head to space!

Ballet superstar, Native American advocate ... Maria Tallchief was COOL.

Join the trickster coyote, the lumbering bear, the swimming salmon and the majestic eagle as they get their new names from the Spirit Chief. Composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is our guest this week on Classical Sprouts guiding us through this musical story!

Composers have been inspired by their feline friends for a long, long time. This week on Classical Sprouts, explore cat-themed pieces of classical music and stretch in the sun, chase a mouse, walk on a keyboard and more!

Explore the Dies Irae, a spooky medieval melody that still shows up in all kinds of music - from Franz Liszt to Frozen!

Go Into The Woods, to Ancient Rome and to the Tony Awards with the music of Stephen Sondheim and the Pasadena Playhouse's Producing Artistic Danny Feldman this week on Classical Sprouts.

What happens when you combine classical music with bluegrass? A goat rodeo! This week on Classical Sprouts, join Producer Emily as she shares some of the music from The Goat Rodeo Sessions, performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan.

Experience Mozart's famous opera through the eyes of everyone's favorite birdcatcher, Papageno!

This composer was a contemporary of Franz Lizst, but didn't have her work published during her lifetime. Now, Interlochen Arts Camp Instructor of Piano Jocelyn Swigger is on a mission to uncover, publish, and perform the music of Agnes Tyrrell! Hear it here first!

Kindness is key in Rossini's take on Cinderella, where there's no magic: no glass slippers, no pumpkin carriage, and no fairy godmother!

Learn about the history of the saxophone through the actual instruments themselves! Jake Goldwasser is a saxophone player, a saxocologist, and the curating fellow with the Greenleaf Collection at Interlochen Center For The Arts, and he's our guest on Classical Sprouts this week, bringing to life the stories of some really cool and really old saxophones!

Soft-hearted Pirates! Fast-talking Major-Generals! Love, insomnia, battles, and love for the Queen! We’re heading to the shores of Cornwall, England with our pirate costumes as we explore the Gilbert and Sullivan favorite, "The Pirates of Penzance!"

We're swabbing the deck, hanging out with cats and goats, listening to some reallllly old saxophones and more this season on Classical Sprouts!

Dig into four movements of Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and hear how they sound as the original piano score, how it grows into a piece for orchestra, and how other ensembles have imagined them!

Heard of the oud? How about the darbuka? Find out what they are on this musical tour of the Middle East!

Kate shares a Venezuelan folk song that was used to calm down cows when they are being milked!

Gnomes, dancing chicks, a witch's hut ... we have lots of paintings and music to explore!

It's time to raid your patio for percussion instruments!

Why were John Philip Sousa and his marches so famous? Find out here!

Enchanted garden + magic bird = hit ballet

The self-described "velvet gentleman" had all kinds of quirks.

Grab your swimsuit or lace up your tennis shoes — we're getting sporty!

Wendy Carlos's surprising combination of the brand-new Moog synthesizer and Bach's music became a massive hit!

Recapping the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest!

Dive into the piece that topped the charts all year long in 1952 — and later got a French twist.

Join us in Paris as we step into this 2015 Broadway musical based on music by George and Ira Gershwin!

It's time for royal crowning, anthem playing and tea spilling galore!

Lions and scarecrows and tin men, oh my! This 1970s retelling of the Wizard of Oz is full of great music!

Pokemon and "Pictures at an Exhibition," "The Wiz" and "The Firebird"! Get ready!

Aaron Copland and Agnes de Mille's work, Rodeo, combines the old west with ballet.

Welcome to Classical Sprouts: Birdwatching Edition.

We're rewinding more than 900 years to get to know this medieval composer, poet and nun.

Spoiler alert: they didn't originate in Scotland! Kate and a special guest will tell you more about bagpipe history and performance.

Pianists Anna and Dmitri Shelest stand in solidarity with their fellow Ukrainians through music.

We're exploring Ukraine's rich musical traditions, from Eurovision to overtone flutes.

You get to meet an opera star!

Learn about some of the composers, artists, and poets active during the Harlem Renaissance, the 1920s Black culture movement in New York City.

Wish you had a fairy godmother? Us too.

The Child Spirits in the Metropolitan Opera's production of "The Magic Flute" gave us the inside scoop!

From Minecraft to The Metropolitan Opera, you won't want to miss this exciting season of musical exploration! Sprouting next Monday!

What is Handel's "Messiah" and why do people sing it during the Christmas season?

From a Turkish march to Ode to Joy, learn about one of the most famous symphonies of all time!

The Nutcracker - with a twist (or maybe several)

Feathers and frogs and bugles, oh my! We’re getting poetic as we explore musical settings of this poet's work.

Rachel Barton Pine has always been drawn to the violin - in any form.

At 10, this violinist debuted with the Chicago Symphony. Now her foundation advocates for Black composers.

Pack your bags - and your instruments! We're headed to summer camp at Interlochen.

Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Caroline Shaw's music came to life for Classical Sprouts producer Emily Duncan Wilson!

We're going to Talk-A-Little about Meredith Willson's hit 1957 musical The Music Man!

Party like it's 1499! Learn about Renaissance dances and the recorder.

From The Music Man to Minecraft, you won't want to miss this exciting season of musical exploration! Sprouting next Monday!

Kate shares this iconic dancer and choreographer's inspiring story.

Explore the music and history of this enchanting instrument with a special guest!

Explore music from rodeos, ancient instruments, singing computers and more. Preview the first season of Classical Sprouts, the AWESOME classical music podcast for kids from Interlochen Public Radio!